




9 


















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JFnmtfspfcce.— Beti Sfjors. 



el Mother, did you ever see anything so pretty as my 
red shoes?” p. 10. 


THE 


CHILDREN 


4 * 


OF 


BLACKBERRY HOLLOW. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 

No. 1122 Chestnut Street. 


NEW YORK: 599 BROADWAY. 


57 / 5 / 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1861, by the 
AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 

in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for 
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 


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THE RED SHOES. 
















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THE RED SHOES. 


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CHAPTER I. 

Far away on a green hill-side, a little 
calf played and frisked and threw up its 
heels. Now, the calf’s mother was really 
a very sedate and sensible old cow ; yet she 
never (that anybody could see) made the 
least attempt to teach the little calf to look 
as grave as herself, or to walk as slow, or 
to lie down and be quiet as many times in 
the day. He would not even stand and 
meditate, with his feet in the brook. Per- 
haps she thought that he could learn it all 
quick enough, when the time came; and 
so doubtless he might. But when the time 


8 


THE RED SHOES. 


came — that is, not that time, but another, 
— the calf was taken to the butcher to be 
killed, and then his skin was stripped off 
and carried to the tanner’s. There every 
hit of the hair was scraped away, and the 
skin was put into the tan-pits, to make it 
fit for shoes. In the tan-pit there was 
water, and bark from an oak-tree; and 
when the calf’s skin had lain there some 
time it became soft and thick, and was 
called leather; and when it was tanned 
enough, it was taken out and dyed a beau- 
tiful red colour. Then the shoemaker 
bought it. There were many other pieces 
of leather in his shop,- — black, and blue, 
and green, and even yellow; and there 
was some very thick leather to make the 
soles of the shoes. 

One day the shoemaker took down the 
piece of red leather, and with a sharp knife 
cut out a little pair of shoes ; and he cut 


THE RED SHOES. 


9 


some thicker leather for the soles, and some 
white stuff for the lining ; and then they 
were sewed and fitted on a last. The last 
was a little wooden block, shaped some- 
thing like a foot. Then somebody bound 
the shoes with red ribbon, and put in red 
strings, and then they were wrapped up in 
paper and sent home. 

Now, when the boy who carried the 
little bundle knocked at Mrs. Delaine’s 
door, Debby herself opened it. 

‘‘Here’s something for you, I guess,” 
said the hoy'; and he put the shoes into 
Debby’s hand, and ran off. Debby walked 
straight into the room where her mother 
was. 

“Mother,” she said, “here’s my red 
shoes ! May I put ’em right on?” 

“If you choose,” said her mother. 

Then Debby sat down on her little 
bench and pulled off her black shoes in a 


10 


THE BED SHOES. 


great hurry, and flung them aside just as 
if she had not been very proud of them 
once, — which indeed she had. But her mo- 
ther said not a word, and Debby never 
knew how she looked; for as soon as the 
red shoes were on she could see nothing 
but them. There she sat, with her feet 
stuck out into the sunshine, till you would 
almost think nobody had ever had feet be- 
fore, — much less red shoes. 

“Mother,” said Debby, “did you ever 
see any thing so pretty as my red 
shoes?” 

“Well, Debby,” said her mother, “you 
know I have some queer notions about 
pretty things. Now, shoes never look 
pretty to me unless they walk well.” 

“But, mother,” said Debby, “how can 
shoes walk?” 

“Oh, only when the feet that are in 
them walk,” said her mother. 


THE BED SHOES. 11 

“Oh, yes, to be sure,” said Debby. 
“Well, how do feet walk well?” 

“Why, when they are in a good path 
and going at a good rate,” said her mother. 

“Well, what is a good path?” said 
Qebby. 

“It is a path which leads to good 
things.” 

^“What path are my shoes in now?” 
said Debby, looking at them affectionately. 

“ In a path that leads to vanity, I should 
think,” said her mother, “and going at a 
very good rate, too.” Debby drew her 
feet in under her frock in quick time. 

“Mother,” she said, “you’re so funny !” 

“Am I?” said her mother, smiling. 
“But isn’t it true?” 

“Well,” said Debby, “I suppose, per- 
haps, it is !” 

“It is what lies at the end of a path 
that makes it really bad or good,” said her 


12 


THE RED SHOES. 


mother. “A path may be very smooth 
and flowery, and yet lead to a precipice ; 
or it may he very rough, and lead to a 
good happy home. So the people that 
choose a path or a way of life merely be- 
cause they like the looks of it, may some- 
times make a great mistake.” 

“But how can they choose, then ?” said 
Debby. “For I am sure they cannot see 
away, away to the end.” 

“ Not always,” said her mother. “ But 
they can always ask God to lead them, for 
he sees the end from the beginning, and if 
they want very much to go only towards 
heaven, they will soon learn the way. If 
you were far, far away from home, Debby/ 
and longing to get there, you would be 
very careful not to take a single little step 
that even seemed like going astray.” 

“Yes, indeed, I should,” said Debby. 

“And if I said to you, 'Debby, every 


THE RED SHOES. 


13 


step on the dry ground will bring you to- 
wards home, and every step on the wet 
ground will take you farther off/ — how 
would you walk?” 

“Why, I’d go on the dry ground, to be 
sure, and never go near the wet.” 

“Then suppose the dry ground was 
rough and steep, while down in the wet 
there were beautiful-looking flowers, — red 
and yellow and blue : then may-be you 
would think, ‘I dare say there’s some 
dry ground down there, — enough to walk 
upon if I’m careful to pick my way.’ And 
then you would try, and go stepping along ; 
and first your shoes would be a little damp, 
and then down would go one foot in the 
mud!” 

“I know how it would be,” saidDebby; 
“because I did just that way coming home 
one night. But I had old shoes on.” 

“Ah! there is one use of new shoes/ 

2 


14 


THE EED SHOES. 


said her mother, smiling: “they are apt to 
make people careful. But if we are tra- 
velling home with eager hearts, whether 
with shoes or no shoes, with red slippers 
or only clean little feet, we shall not want 
to get in the mud and so be belated and 
weary and ashamed. 

“ ‘Who are they whose little feet, 

Pacing life’s dark journey through, 

Now have reach’d that heavenly seat 
They had ever kept in view ? 

***** 

Each the welcome “ Come !” awaits, 
Conquerors over death and sin: , 

Lift your heads, ye golden gates ! 

Let the little travellers in !’ 

“That is the sort of little feet I love, 
Debby, — the only ones that are really 
beautiful; and whether they wear red 
shoes or no shoes, does not make much 
difference. You may learn the whole 


THE RED SHOES. 


15 


hymn, if you like.” So Debby sat down 
to learn. 

“ CHILDREN AT THE GATE OF HEAVEN.” 
“Little travellers Zionward, 

Each one entering into rest, 

In the kingdom of your Lord, 

In the mansions of the blest; 

There, to welcome, Jesus waits, 

Gives the crowns his followers win : 

Lift your heads, ye golden gates ! 

Let the little travellers in ! 

“ Who are they whose little feet, 

Pacing life’s dark journey through, 

Now have reach’d that heavenly seat 
They had ever kept in view ? 

‘ I from Greenland’s frozen land 
1 1 from India’s sultry plain;’ 

‘ I from Afric’s barren sand ;’ 

‘ I from islands of the main!’ 

“All our earthly journey past, 

Every tear and pain gone by, 

Here together met at last, 

At the portal of the sky, 

Each the welcome ‘ Come !’ awaits, 
Conquerors over death and sin : 

Lift your heads, ye golden gates ! 

Let the little travellers in !” 


16 


THE RED SHOES. 


CHAPTER n. 

“Mother/' said Debby, “what does 
Zionward mean?" 

“Sometimes," said ber mother, “Zion 
is one of the names of Jerusalem, in the 
Bible ; and sometimes it is used as a name 
for all of God’s own people: as when the 
Psalmist says, ‘ The Lord shall reign for- 
ever ; even thy God, 0 Zion, unto all gene- 
rations!’ But here in the hymn, Debby, 
and in many places in the Bible, Zion is 
but another word for the heavenly Jeru- 
salem. ‘The redeemed of the Lord shall 
return and come to Zion, with songs and 
everlasting joy upon their heads.’ ’’ 

“And Zionward means towards Zion," 
said Debby. “I know that." 


THE RED SHOES. 


17 


“Yes,” said her mother: “these little 
travellers have heard that the Lord hath 
founded Zion, and so they have chosen 
it for their home. Every day they are 
travelling on towards it, and there Jesus has 
a crown for each one of them.” 

“I guess they walk well, then,” said 
Debby, “since they’re going to such a 
good place.” 

“One who is really travelling towards 
Zion, with his face thitherwards, Debby,” 
said her mother, “walks as no one else 
can ! In the first place, he walks in safety ; 
for ‘the Lord keepeth the feet of his 
saints.’ If they trust in him, ‘their feet 
shall not slip.’ Sin shall neither conquer 
nor mislead them.” 

“Don’t they ever want to do wrong?” 
said Debby. 

“Sin may tempt them sometimes,” said 

her mother; “but if they pray, — ‘Teaci 
2 * 


18 


THE RED SHOES. 


me thy way, 0 Lord; lead me in a plain 
path, because of mine enemies,’ — then the 
Lord will answer them, ‘ This is the way : 
walk ye in it.’ None of the attacks 
of sin shall hurt them; for the Lord 
is a buckler to them that walk up- 
rightly.” 

“And what then ?” said Debby. 

“Why, then,” said her mother, “they 
walk in the way of peace and in the light 
of God’s countenance.” 

“And that makes them shine,” said 
Debby. “I remember all about my little 
stone.” 

“Yes, that makes them shine,” said her 
mother. “And so, with this glory about 
them and in their hearts, they walk in the 
fear of the Lord, and in love towards them 
that are without, redeeming the time. 
For any one who is travelling towards 
Zion ‘with a perfect heart’ wants to do 


THE RED SHOES. 


19 


every bit of work tbe Lord has given him 
to do, on the way.” 

“Then they always mind, I guess,” said 
Debby. 

“Ah, Debby,” said her mother, “they 
do a great deal more than that ! — they are 
eager to mind. ‘I made haste, and de- 
layed not, to keep thy commandments,' 
said King David. Now, you know all 
minding is not like that.” 

“No, indeed,” said Debby, thinking how 
slowly she had gone up-stairs that very 
morning on some errand for her mother. 

“No, indeed,” her mother repeated. 
“Now the Bible says that the feet of the 
wicked run to evil ; but the righteous ‘ run 
the way of God’s commandments.’ Walk- 
ing is not enough for them : they must 
run. When there is any work to be 
done for the Lord, they say, ‘Here am I: 
send me.’ ” 


20 


THE RED SHOES. 


“I guess they feel good always, then,” 
said Debby. 

“They feel happy, — if that is what you 
mean,” said her mother. “No matter 
what troubles or difficulties they have to 
go through, ‘the word of the Lord is a 
lamp unto their feet and a light unto their 
path.’ Men may ill-treat them and throw 
them into prison; yet shall they ‘walk 
at liberty, for they seek his precepts.’ 
‘ Though I walk through the valley of the 
shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for 
thou art with me.’ Walking with God, 
none need be afraid.” 

“What more do they do?” said Debby. 

“They always walk in truth, for one 
thing,” said her mother. “And then, 
Debby, they try to do good to other peo- 
ple, and to bring them out of the ways of 
darkness. Oh, what walking that is ! 
‘How leautiful upon the mountains are 


THE BED SHOES. 


21 


the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, 
that publisheth peace ; that bringeth good 
tidings of good, that publisheth salva- 
tion !’ ” 

“The good tidings,” said Debby : “that’s 
the news that Jesus came to save people. 

' Because when he was born the angels 
called it good tidings of great joy.” 

“Yes: you remember very well,” said 
her mother. “Now, the Bible says that 
every one that abideth in Jesus ought him- 
self also so to walk even as he walked. 
How was that ?” 

“He went about doing good,” said 
Debby. “I learned that.” 

“Yes; and it was his meat and drink 
to do the will of God. And when we 
walk like him, Debby, then are our ‘feet 
shod with the preparation of the gospel of 
peace and there is no shoe like that for 
going over all rough places.” 


22 


THE RED SHOES. 


“And do all the little travellers Zion- 
ward walk so?” said Debby. 

“Ah,” said her mother, “they are all 
trying to walk so; for every one who fol- 
lows Jesus will try to walk worthy of the 
Lord, unto all well-pleasing.’ When you 
tried to cross the brook once on a log, 
Debby, how did you contrive to do it?” 

“Why, you told me not to look about, 
mother,” said Debby; “and so I just 
looked at you and walked straight across. 
And I held out my hand, you know, and 
you took hold of it.” 

“Well,” said her mother, “in walking 
through this world, Debby, unless you 
want to make crooked paths for your feet, 
you must not look' hither and thither to 
see how other people do, or to show what 
a steady head you have. Look only to 
Jesus; hold out your hand to him: then 
you will be a traveller Zionward.” 


THE RED SHOES. 


23 


“And they go to the kingdom of the Lord, 
and the mansions of the blest,” said Debby. 

“Yes,” said her mother. “And where 
are those mansions?” 

“Oh, I know,” said Debby: “it’s in 
that chapter where I learned my verses 
last Sunday, where the Lord Jesus says, 
‘ In my Father’s house are many mansions ; 
I go to prepare a place for you.’ ” 

“Now listen,” said her mother, “and I 
will read you a little bit about that, Debby. 
It tells of Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem: — 
“ ‘And the city had no need of the sun, 
neither of the moon to shine in it ; for the 
glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb 
is the light thereof. And the nations of 
them which are saved shall walk in the 
light of it.’ 

“First they walk with God on earth, 
and then in the full light of his counte 
nance in heaven.” 


24 


THE RED SHOES. 


CHAPTER III. 

The Sunday-school children at the vil- 
lage were going to have a strawberry feast 
over on Church Hill: there was nice 
green grass there, and great trees to give 
shade. And the children were to meet 
just where the brook runs out of the Hol- 
low, and then walk together to the Hill. 
So, when it drew near four o’clock, Debby 
set out to walk to the place of meeting, 
red shoes and all. I really think that 
black ones would have looked better, for 
such a walk; but Debby wished very 
much to wear the red; and her mother 
consented. They made quite a show in 
the green grass as she went along, Debby 
thought; and she was so busy watching 


THE RED SHOES. 


25 


for them, as one after the other stepped 
forward, that she actually forgot all about 
the strawberry feast till she came in sight 
of the rest of the children. There was 
Sarah Dasher, and the Singletons, and Tom 
Lane, and many others, — some of the poor 
village children, too, and all the teachers. 

• When all had arrived, the teachers be- 
gan to arrange them two-and-two, that 
they might walk in nice order. First 
went Ellen Singleton and Sarah Dasher, 
and then the two next oldest; and so on. 
Now, Debby hoped very much that she 
might have one of her particular friends 
to walk with; but, instead of that, Mrs. 
Singleton brought up one of the village 
children for her companion. 

‘‘This is Jane King, Debby,” she said. 
“I want you to walk. with her.” 

So Debby and Jane King walked off 
after the other children, and Debby held 

3 


26 


THE BED SHOES. 


her head down and peeped at Jane round 
the* edge of her sunbonnet. She wife a 
nice-looking child, with good, plump 
cheeks and brown hair, and quiet, pleasant 
little face. But she was a poor child : that 
was plain. Her dress was clean, but very 
old and faded and patched up, and she had 
no shoes at all ! To be sure, her bare feet 
were as clean as if they had just come out 
of the brook. Debby looked at them. 
They went sturdily plodding on through 
the grass, with Debby’s red shoes twink- 
ling about alongside of them. 

“How queer it is!” thought Debby. 
“What could make her come to a festival 
with no shoes?” Then, as they walked 
on, suddenly Debby began to think of 
something else: — 

“Who are they whose little feet, 

Pacing life’s dark journey through, 

'Now have reach’d that heavenly seat 
They had ever kept in view ?” 


THE RED SHOES. 


27 


“Red shoes or no shoes, it doesn’t make 
much difference,” Debby repeated to her- 
self, thinking of her mother’s words. And 
yet it seemed to make a good deal, too. 

“I wonder which way she’s walking?” 
thought Debby again. “I guess I’ll ask 
her. Jane, do you know how to walk 
well?” 

“I don’t know — I think I don’t know — 
what you mean,” Jane answered, colouring. 
For she had been watching Debby ’s red 
shoes, too, and thought that may-be Debby 
was laughing at her bare feet. 

“ Well, which way are you going, then?” 
said Debby. 

“I’m going up to the festival,” said 
Jane, quietly. “ Mrs. Singleton told me to 
come.” 

“Is that all?” said Debby. 

“ Yes,” said Jane, “that’s all. I knew 
I might come if she told me to. I guess 


28 


THE BED SHOES. 


they ve all got shoes but me ; — but I 
couldn’t help that. We’re too poor to wear 
shoes in summer.” 

“Oh, but, ’ ’ said Debby, ‘ ‘ my mother says 
it don’t make much difference.” 

“I think it does make some,” said Jane, 
looking down again at the little red shoes. 
“I think it makes a good deal.” 

“No, it don’t,” said Debby, “if you 
only walk well.” 

Jane looked at her own bare feet this 
time, plodding on as before, and wondered 
what in the world Debby meant. 

“ I can get along fast enough,” she said, 
“but it a’n’t so pretty to look at.” 

“Oh, but I don’t mean that, at all,” 
said Debby. “Why, didn’t you ever hear 
about the little travellers?” 

Jane looked up, and a smile came over 
her face. 

“‘Little Travellers Zionward? 1 ” she 


THE REJ) SHOES. 


29 


said. “Oh, yes, to be sure. I know all 
about that. I mean, I know something.’' 

“But what makes you stop and take 
back your words so?” said Debby. “A 
little while ago you said, ‘ I don’t know — 
I think I don’t know;’ and now, again.’' 

“I spoke too fast,” said Jane. “I spoke 
as if I was sure ; and I wasn’t. And just 
now I said I knew all about the little 
travellers; but, oh, I know so little! I 
spoke too fast to speak quite true.” 

Then thought Debby to herself, “ I 
guess that’s what mother meant by walk- 
ing in the truth. ’ ’ “Well, what do you know 
about ’em, Jane?” she Said aloud. “ Be- 
cause I know a good deal, and I can tell 
you. 

“Do you?” said Jane, putting her band 
in Debby’ s. “Then I wish you would tell 
me. You know, Debby, the Bible says 
we ought to walk even as Jesus walked; 


30 


THE REB SHOES. 


and sometimes it seems to me as if I walked 
just the other way. Do you ever feel so ? 
Now, if I loved Jesus as he loves me, I 
think my heart would run to him all the 
time.” 

Debby was puzzled in her turn. Here 
was something about little travellers which 
went quite beyond her knowledge. 

“Do you love Jesus?” she said, looking 
out from under her sunbonnet. 

“Oh, yes!” Jane answered: “we all do 
at home. We should be dreadfully poor 
if it wasn’t for that.” 

“Would you?” said Debby, wondering. 

“Oh, yes,” said Jane: “we’ve got no- 
thing else in the whole world.” 

“And you think he loves you?” said 
Debby. 

“ Why, I’m sure he does,” said Jane. 
“He wouldn’t have done so much for me 
if he didn’t. That’s what mother said yes- 


THE BED SHOES. 


31 


terday, when Tim Ryan said he didn’t 
believe any such thing. Mother said, 
‘ Just read the Bible, and you’ll see it, 
Tim.’ 

“I guess you’re a real little traveller, 
Jane,” said Debby. But why Debby 
sighed as she said it, she herself did not 
know. 


I ^ 

And now they had mounted the hill, 
and there, under the trees, was a long, 
white tent, and under the tent the feast 
was spread. How beautiful the tables 
looked ! — covered first with white cloths, 
and then with ever so* many nice things. 

Of course, as it was a strawberry feast, 
there were more strawberries than any 
thing else, — some in dishes, and some in 
little baskets, and some in saucers, all 
ready to be eaten. Then there were dishes 


32 THE RED SHOES. 

of cherries, and plates of cake, and flowers 
everywhere in great abundance. There 
was ice-cream, too, in a great pail over in 
one corner. So that Debby. said it was 
almost as good as a fair. The teachers 
stood near the tables, and took care that 
all the children were well helped; and 
it was pretty to see the little things sitting 
about on the grass, eating their straw- 
berries. Then they all sat together* 
under the trees and sang ; and after that, 
when the sun was nearly down, they 
went home. 

You would have been amused to see 
what a fancy Debby and Jane King took 
to each other. 


The first thing Debby said when she 
got home was, — 

“Oh, mother, I had a splendid time! 


THE RED SHOES. 33 

And who do you guess I walked with, up 
to Church Hill?” 

“How can I possibly guess?” said her 
mother, smiling. “Was it Tom Lane?” 

“Oh, no,” said Debby, “it wasn’t Tom ; 
but it was somebody almost as good. It 
was areal little traveller, mother.” 

When Jane King got home, the first 
thing was to put her flowers in water ; for 
Mrs. Singleton had given her a great bunch 
of roses and white lilies; and then Jane 
stood looking at them with much satisfac- 
tion. And no wonder; for they were the 
only pretty things in the room. Such a 
poor little room ! though it was very clean ; 
but with no carpet and no curtains, and 
only an old table and a 'stove and a few 
chairs. 

“ Did you have a nice time, child?”- said 
her mother. 

“Oh, a very nice time,” said Jane; 


34 


THE RED SHOES. 


“ and here’s some cake for yon, mother 
And I walked with such a nice little girl in 
red shoes. They looked so pretty, mother, 
you can’t think!” 

Her mother looked down at Jane’s little 
bare feet, and said nothing. 


THE RED SHOES. 


35 


CHAPTER IV. 

It was the next day after the strawberry 
feast, and Debby Delaine and her mother 
sat at work in the front porch. Debby 
thought she was at work; but indeed it 
was only an apron for her doll; and, as 
the doll was very patient and willing to 
wait, there was really no hurry about it. 
So Debby sewed a little, and then she 
laid down the apron and played with the 
eat. And presently puss began to bite 
Debby’s shoes. Debby watched her. The 
black shoes were on to-day, or, you may 
be sure, Debby would have stopped the 
cat’s sport quick enough. 

“Mother,” she said, suddenly, “I wish 
you would tell me more about the little 


36 


THE BED SHOES. 


travellers. The next verse says, ‘ who are 
they?'” 

“ Take notice, first,” said her mother, 
“that they who reach that heavenly seat 
have been journeying on towards it peeping 
it in view all the time. They have not been 
turning their backs on the Celestial City, 
so that it should be a surprise and a new 
idea to find themselves there.” 

“What does ‘facing’ mean?” said 
Debby?” 

“In this place it means going along, 
step by step. That is the way people fol- 
low Jesus towards heaven, Debby, — step 
by step. And sometimes the steps are 
very little ones; but they are all after 
him.” 

“The hymn says, ‘their little feet,’” 
said Debby, looking down at her own 
small, black shoes, on which pussy had laid 
her white paws. 


THE RED SHOES. 


37 


“ Yes ; their little feet,” said her mother. 
“Oh, how many little feet are even now 
treading those heavenly courts ! And how 
many more are on the way ! And you 
see, Debby, they come from all parts of 
the world : — 

‘I from Greenland’s frozen land 
‘ I from India’s sultry plain 
‘ I from Afric’s barren sand 
‘ I from islands of the main.’ ” 

“ All these far-away places,” said Debby. 

“Yes,” said her mother, “very far 
away from us, and from each other, but 
not from heaven. Heaven is near every 
part of the world to those who follow 
Jesus. And then, when their earthly 
journey is all past, the little travellers 
will all meet together at those heavenly 
gates.” 

“And the gates will let ’em come in,” 
said Debby. “ The hymn says so*” 


38 


THE BED SHOES. 


“Oh, yes,” said her mother, “and the 
Bible says so too: — ‘Open ye the gates, 
that the righteous nation which keepeth 
the truth may enter in.’ And who will 
welcome them, Debby?” 

“The Lord Jesus, first,” said Debby. 

4 There, to welcome, J esus waits, — 

Gives the crowns his followers win.’ ” 

“Then they will be welcomed and 
crowned by Jesus!” said Mrs. Delaine. 
“Will not that be a reward for a weary 
little traveller?” 

“Will they be weary ?” said Debby. 

“ Some of them will be weary,” her 
mother answered. “ Look at Jane King, 
Debby: don’t you think she sometimes 
gets weary of going barefoot, and of hav- 
ing little to eat, and not much fire in 
the cold weather, and having to work 
hard?” 


THE RED SHOES. 39 

“I don’t know,” said Debby. “She 
didn’t look so.” 

“Then, if all that does not trouble her,” 
said Mrs. Delaine, “I can tell you what 
she does get weary of sometimes. Of 
not loving Jesus enough, — of being but 
a poor, unfaithful little traveller, after 
all.” 

“ Oh, I guess that’s true,” said Debby. 
“She said something like that.” 

“And what does the last verse mean, 
when it says, — 

‘ Each the welcome ‘ Come’ awaits’ ? 

What does the Bible tell about that?” 

“ I don’t know, mother,” said Debby. 

“If you turn to the twenty-fifth chapter 
of Matthew,” said her mother, “you will 
find that it tells about a day when the Son 
of Man (that means the Lord Jesus, you 
knov, Debby) shall come in his glory. 


40 


THE BED SHOES. 


When he came to this world before, it 
was in poverty and humiliation; but the 
next time it shall be ‘in his glory, and 
all the holy angels with him. Then 
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory ; 
and before him shall be gathered all 
nations.’ ” 

“That means people from all the differ- 
ent countries,” said Debby. “I had that 
in my geography lesson.” 

“Yes,” said her mother; “it means all 
the people from all the countries: — from 
Greenland, and India, and Africa, and all 
the rest. They shall be all gathered before 
him, ‘ and he shall separate them one from 
another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep 
from the goats.’ 

“Now, when men divide the nations, 
Debby, they do it partly by the colour 
of their faces: — the red skins by them- 
selves, and the white, and the black, and 


THE EED SHOES. 


41 


the copper-coloured. But how will the 
Lord Jesus divide them?” 

“ I don’t know,” said Debby. 

‘ ‘ Think, ’ ’ said her mother. ‘ ‘ What was 
that verse you learned last Sunday?” 

“Oh, I know,” said Debby: — “‘The 
Lord seeth not as man seeth ; for man look- 
eth on the outward appearance; but the 
Lord looketh on the heart.’ Then he’ll 
divide ’em by their hearts : won’t he?” 

“Yes,” said her mother; “for, ‘as a man 
thinketh in his heart, so is he.’ And the 
Lord will know what lives have been spent 
in loving service to him, and what have 
not. 

“And then shall he, the King of kings 
and Lord of lords, say unto them on 
his right hand, ‘Come, ye blessed of my 
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
you from the foundation of the world.’ 
To those on his left hand he shall say, 

4 * 


42 


THE RED SHOES. 


‘Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
prepared for the devil and his angels.’ 
Think how those will feel to whom the 
Lord Jesus in that day shall say, ‘De- 
part.’ ” 

Debby did not answer, except by a little 
sob that came up in her throat and choked 
back the words. 

“ Do you think Debby Delaine will be 
among the little travellers to whom the 
King shall say ‘ Come?’ ” asked her mother, 
softly. 

“I don’t know,” said Debby, struggling 
with her tears. “I think Jane will, — and 
Tom Lane.” 

“What makes you think so?” said her 
mother. 

“ They’re so good,” said Debby. 

“ What else does the hymn say of the 
little travellers?” said Mrs. Delaine. “Over 
what are they conquerors?” 


THE RED SHOES. 


43 


“ Over death and sin,” said Debby. 

“Then they were not good to begin 
with?” 

“ No,” said Debby : “I s’pose not.” 

“ No,” her mother repeated: “they were 
not good to begin with. Sin struggled in 
their hearts and tried to keep them from 
following Jesus. Then how did they con- 
quer sin?” 

“ I don’t know, mother,” said Debby. 

Then Mrs. Delaine took the Bible and 
showed Debby these words : — 

“ ‘Who shall separate us from the love 
of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or 
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or 
peril, or sword? 

“/Nay, in all these things we are more 
than conquerors through him that loved 
as.’” 

“ That is the way, Debby,” her mother 
went on: “it is only through Jesus, — 


44 


THE RED SHOES. 


through the power of his blood to wash 
away their sin, — through the power of his 
grace to keep them day by day. The best 
person in the whole world has need to 
pray all his life, ‘ Hold up my goings in 
thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.’” 

“ Then walking well is just following 
Jesus/’ said Debby. 

“ Just that,” said her mother. 

Debby sat still, and thought again. 

“Mother,” she said, “don’t you think 
my red shoes might learn to run about and 
do some good to people ?’ ’ 

“I have no doubt of it,” said her 
mother. 

“I don’t think it as easy to follow Jesus 
in ’em as it is in my black ones, though,” 
said Debby; “because I get to thinking 
about ’em, and I forget all about where 
I’m going. But I mean to try.” 

And after that, whenever Debby wore 


THE EED SHOES. 45 

the red shoes, she used to repeat to her- 
self, — 

“Red shoes or no shoes, — it doesn’t 
make much difference. Following Jesus 
is the thing.” 


THE END. 



























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